Voltaire on why one should educate oneself: “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” This seems to be relevant in our days as we see presumably good people turning bad as they believe the absurdities preached by violent teachers all over the world. First to come to mind is the ideological war going on in the muslim world today, with all the suffering that leads to, but on every arena there are people having an agenda. An educated mind will, hopefully, be able to see through the words of so called authority, reveal stupid ignorance, and unmask hateful prejudice.
diplopi 
Great little article Jarle, for which many thanks. When I read your line about presumably good people turning bad, I was reminded of an interesting article in The Guardian on the background of the Paris attackers:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/12/-sp-charlie-hebdo-attackers-kids-france-radicalised-paris
As the article says at the end “…children of educated parents, including doctors, or youngsters leaving medical school, and many from non-Muslim backgrounds.”, show that the picture is complex. And that a bright mind is no guarantee for having a reflected and skeptic mind. Just look at the history of the nazis in Germany during WWII, one of the most sophisticated countries in the world at that time.
It is indeed a complex picture Jarle; and unfortunately there are no solutions coming from any quarter. It isn’t a matter of territory, as those who would attack Western targets are themselves Westerners. For example, those who bombed the London underground in 2005, killing 52 and injuring 700, were young English men – same with Paris and the recent attacks in Canada and Australia. Whilst the politicians wonder what can be done, we are left to ask “where next?” One can only hope that in time your message of self-reliance in respect to educating oneself becomes a reality.